Frederick man cleared of attempted murder charge

In addition to three counts of armed robbery, Tony Anthony Jones was also convicted of first-degree assault in the Motel 6 incident

April 10, 2013|By DON AINES | dona@herald-mail.com

A Frederick, Md., man was found not guilty by a jury this week in Washington County Circuit Court of second-degree attempted murder, but guilty of the armed robbery of three women at Motel 6 last year.

Judge Daniel P. Dwyer ordered a presentence report be prepared before sentencing for Tony Anthony Jones, 24, formerly of 1153 Orchard Terrace. In addition to three counts of armed robbery, Jones was also convicted of first-degree assault for stabbing one of the women during the May 21, 2012, incident.

Two of the three women took the stand during Jones’s trial, one of whom testified she tried to defend her girlfriend when Jones and two other men entered the motel room. The woman testified that Jones pushed her into the bathroom, stabbed her and choked her with a nylon strap.

“He was 3 inches from my face, not blinking. It’s something you don’t forget,” she testified when asked if she was positive Jones was her assailant.

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The other woman testified that one of the other men was assaulting her and trying to take money from her purse when she pepper sprayed them.

The women testified that they and a girl who was 17 years old at the time were at the motel to engage in prostitution.

Prior to the three men entering the room, the two women testified another women whom they knew, Kara Day, had come into the room and then left, leaving the door ajar. That’s when the three men entered the room.

Robert Heron, 26, of Frederick, testified that the three men and Day had driven from a hotel in Frederick with the intention of robbing the three women, though he denied he assaulted or stole anything. Heron testified he has a pending plea agreement with the state to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery in exchange for a 2 1/2-year sentence.

Day, 23, of Frederick, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery in November and was sentenced to five years in prison, court records said. Karl Trabold, 23, also of Frederick, entered an Alford plea to conspiracy to commit robbery last year and received a four-year sentence, court records said.

An Alford plea in not an admission of guilt, but an acknowledgment by a defendant that the state has sufficient evidence to gain a conviction.

Jones did not testify in his own defense.

Assistant Public Defenders Carl Creeden and Amy Taylor-Heimberg had argued unsuccessfully for Dwyer to issue a judgment of acquittal on most of the charges, including the attempted murder charge.